SUNY series in Medical Anthropology – serie

Du Toit contributes to the study of the climacteric as an important phase of the life cycle among women of different cultures (the later reproductive and postreproductive years). Drawing upon perspectives in anthropology, sociology, psychology, and gerontology, he demonstrates the need for an adequate cross-cultural theory of aging among women, and offers a solid body of research from South Africa in establishing a standard methodology for the study of the climacteric.

Based on qualitative and quantitative studies in the United States and Puerto Rico, this book demonstrates the significant effect of patients' and health care providers' ethnic and cultural backgrounds on chronic pain.Based on qualitative and quantitative studies in the United States and Puerto Rico, this book demonstrates the significant effects of patients' and health providers' ethnic and cultural backgrounds on the chronic pain experience. A biocultural model from medical anthropology is used to contribute to a better understanding of the interaction of biology and culture in human pain perception. In the studies described, the factors most often associated with successful adjustment to chronic pain are not biomedical but cultural, psychosocial, or the cultural, political, and economic contexts of medical care, compensation and rehabilitation. Truly multi-disciplinary chronic pain treatment programs must be staffed by providers knowledgeable in cultural relativity and cultural self-awareness and should integrate a cultural assessment with an individualized rehabilitation and biopsychosocial treatment plan for each patient.

A fascinating look at how three epidemics of the medieval and Early Renaissance period in Western Europe shaped and altered conceptions of the human body in ways that continue today.The Disordered Body presents a fascinating look at how three epidemics of the medieval and Early Renaissance period in Western Europe shaped and altered conceptions of the human body in ways that continue today. Authors Suzanne E. Hatty and James Hatty show the ways in which concepts of the disordered body relate to constructions of disease. In so doing, they establish a historical link between the discourses of the disordered body and the constructs of gender. The ideas of embodiment, contagion and social space are placed in historical context, and the authors argue that our current anxieties about bodies and places have important historical precedents. They show how the cultural practices of embodied social interaction have been shaped by disease, especially epidemics.